Confrontation
by GiLaw
Summary: After failing in her quest to become Ultimate Champion, warrior Hanso can't help but grieve over her defeat. She also can't help but curse the Blasted Mountain for costing her the victory. But when Versad is injured and leaves behind the Staff of Power, Hanso realises it's up to her to stand up and retrieve it . . . deep within the Blasted Mountain's core.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello you guys! My name is Gilaw and yeah, this is my first Raven story!**

 **Okay for those of you who don't know me, I am gonna tell you right now, Raven is one of my most favourite TV shows of all time, I mean it is right up there with Monkey Team and Power Rangers, it's one of my Top 3. It's got great characters, great challenges and for a CHILDREN'S game show, it's got great story!**

 **So what better than to write my first FanFiction about it?**

 **I don't have a favourite season but I DO have a favourite warrior! "Who is it?" I hear you ask.**

 **It has by far, no doubt got to be Hanso from Season 7.**

 **Why?**

 **Because she is the definition of girl power!**

 **I mean she was the only female finalist from that season and she fought on long and hard to beat (nearly) all the boys and come 2nd! Now THAT'S an achievement!**

 **Now for those of you who don't know the season, I'm gonna tell you where it all went wrong. You see in both the heats and the final, the warriors had a particular foe to content with on the final day: The Blasted Mountain.**

 **And unfortunately for Hanso here, she had a particular run of bad luck in the challenges set there, starting both of her fifth days in a strong position but failing every single challenge, giving her a disadvantage in the final challenge.**

 **And rewatching Season 7 on YouTube and seeing how upset my favourite warrior was in the final, I've been tempted to write this fic for a long time now.**

 **Yeah, there is one particular reason why I've hesitated with this one and that's because it's a gameshow. I know it's still fictional with the medieval and fantasy elements but these contestants are real kids here! I know they do some acting every now and again and they shift around their names to make them more "warrior" but other than that, they're still real kids. So this is a risky FanFiction.**

 **But in the end I decided to do it because it's FanFiction. FanFiction is about taking risks.**

 **So I'm gonna go for it and see what happens.**

 **Enjoy! ;D**

 **Chapter 1**

 **Comerades**

The sky seemed that little bit darker as Hanso trodded through the woods towards warrior camp and away from the Last Stand, away from Raven, away from the Staff of Power and away from her dreams of becoming Ultimate Champion.

That was it.

It was over. Done. Finished.

Just like that, in five simple challenges and her hopes and dreams of fighting by Raven's side were over.

And it was funny how a few little slip ups could cause one to go from smiley and positive to upset and dreary over what was supposed to be a quest to enjoy the challenges and meet new warriors.

This was all supposed to be one big enjoyable experience, right?

Hanso took a moment to stop walking, resting one hand on a tree and rub her face with the other, exhaling loudly, her breath shaking with sadness. She couldn't help but grieve over her defeat, the quest had meant so much to her and such a bad final day would amuse those who were against all that were good. She puffed out her cheeks, exhaling one last breath and glanced at the tree she was resting against. It automatically reminded her of Versad.

She wondered how he was doing?

He was probably doing great, out on heroic journeys, wielding his Staff of Power to blast away Nevar's demons and other vicious creatures that stood in his way, Raven by his side . . .

Hanso felt her eyes watering and wiped them quickly. She felt ridiculous for crying over something as silly as losing a simple contest but at the same time . . .

'Oh for-' She nearly kicked herself at the thought, tightening her lips in frustration. "Cut it out, Hanso! You came second, out of all the warriors who took part in this quest, you beat sixteen of them and beat _four other boys in the final!_ You came second! You're happy! Happy!'

Taking one last deep breath, she stood up straight and started marching towards warrior camp as bravely as she could. If her fellows saw her sobbing, they'd surely see her as a sore loser.

As she marched through the forest, she couldn't help but take note of the many trees she passed by, there seemed to be quite a lot of them.

'How come every time I go on a really good winning streak, Versad has to come along and wreck it?'

No! She shook her head quickly and smacked her head. 'Versad's a good warrior, he deserves it. You're happy with your position!' She shook her head again and glanced up in search of a distraction from her grief. A particular mountain caught the corner of her eye and she couldn't help but glare at it.

The Blasted Mountain.

The one place that shattered her hopes and dreams . . .

Hanso bit her lip and paced along her path, her eyes glued to the summit. It wasn't like her to get angry at something like this but that one mountain just suddenly made her feel so furious inside, boiling inside of her like the lava pit in that mountain's core.

If it wasn't for that mountain, she would have had a chance at becoming Ultimate Champion.

She exhaled loudly through her nose again and headed off, trying not to storm. She was nearing warrior camp now and just wanted to lie down and relax. It had been a few days since the quest had finished and she was feeling pretty hungry.

A few metres ahead, she could see a campfire and sighed to herself, relieved to be back at last. There were no warriors there but there was a welcome little pile of apples, just for her. The corners of Hanso's mouth raised slightly as she took a nice golden apple, flopped down onto the leaves and took a bite. Still there weren't any warriors there. They must be out hunting out something.

Whatever it was, she shrugged and relaxed a little, resting her head on her hand when suddenly she became aware of the rustling sounds around her. Without a moment's hesitation, she jumped to her feet, the fruit in her hand dropping by her feet.

What was it?

Where there demons around her?

Was this a villainous trap constructed by Nevar to lure her in?

Had they captured her fellows?

Hanso backed away from the rustling trees and grabbed a nearby stick, the thickest one she could find. The rustling was getting louder and louder, definitely heading in her direction. She whipped around, holding up her stick defensively, now really wishing she had that Staff of Power . . .

Wait, the rustling seemed to be toning down. Now she could hear just a single set of footsteps approaching her. It seemed to be coming from one of the bushes . . . Hanso slowly approached it, her stick raised, ready to strike.

And out popped probably one of the least threatning things in these woods: her best friend Kesem.

Hanso let out a huge sigh of relief and dropped her weapon, opening her arms to give Kesem one big friendly squeeze, scrunching up her eyes as she did so.

"Hey," Kesem murmured.

Hanso didn't reply just squeezed her comerade with all her passion. She could feel her eyes watering again, her breath shaking and tried to control it as best as she could.

"You did really well out there," Kesem smiled encouraginly as they broke away. "We're really proud of you."

Hanso couldn't help but smile at this, wiping her eye. Kesem was just like a younger sister to her- she was small in stature and had a deformed right hand but she was strong in body and heart and Hanso admired her for that.

"Wanna sit down?" Kesem offered.

She nodded. "Yeah . . ."

Kesem nodded happily, kneeling down by her friend's side. As Hanso finally relaxed once more, more comerades suddenly emerged from behind the trees and bushes: Sonos, Lenat, Beron, Mygar and Kelpa.

"We were kinda planning on having a surprise party for you," said Kesem. "But then we saw you and you didn't look that happy . . ."

"No no no no no, I'm fine," Hanso replied quickly but they all knew she was lying.

"Hey." Sonos stepped up to her. "If you think you're upset, just look at Danil. He's been beating himself up for ages since he failed Way of the Warrior."

Hanso straightened at this. "He's that bad?"

"Yeah," Lenat sighed. "Wouldn't speak a word when he returned just headed off to the woods and he's barely been out since!"

Hanso pulled a face, immediately feeling a little guilty. She'd almost forgotten about Danil's failure at Way of the Warrior. It was just that one graze against that one final jaw that prevented him from continuing to that final day . . .

"It's okay if you're still unhappy about coming second," said Kelpa. She gave Sonos a little nudge with her arm as she added "We won't judge you."

Sonos gave her a look at this but said nothing.

Hanso just sighed a little sadly. Kesem noticed this and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"You want another apple?"

"No thanks, I'm not hungry anymore."

Kesem nodded at this, taking pity on her friend. The other warriors also remained silent, deciding to give Hanso some space, just as Danil emerged from the slightly darker part of the woods.

"Is Hanso back yet?"

The forest was filled with "yeahs", most of the warriors, turning their heads towards Hanso pouting on the leaves. Danil tightened his lips slightly and nodded bravely.

"Good to see ya." His voice quaked a little.

"You too," Hanso murmured quietly.

Danil didn't reply just turned away, heading back into the woods though Hanso could have sworn she heard him snivelling furiously. She sighed again and wrapped her arms around her legs, resting her head on her knees.

"Hey." Mygar gave her a small look of encouragement. "Just be glad of your achievements here."

"Yeah. You made us girls proud," Kelpa added, hoping to lighten up her comerade in some shape or form. The only reply the two girls got was a simple "Thanks" from Hanso who rubbed her face again, letting out yet another sad sigh.

Her comerades all exchanged glances, knowing that there was nothing they could do to cheer up their friend. All very reluctant, they trudged off to do their own thing while Hanso let her head sink more into her knees, eyeing the summit that towered over them, lowering her eyebrows a little . . .

But before she could come up with any negative thoughts, a golden flash appeared, taking all the warriors by surprise. Kelpa, Mygar, Sonos, Beron and Lenat all jumped and Hanso leapt to her feet once again. Even Danil sprinted out of the woods to see what it was while Kesem rushed to Hanso's side.

"What is that?!"

Hanso shook her head in shock. "I don't know . . ."

She soon found out. The golden light cleared away and there in front of the eight warriors stood the Ultimate Champion himself Versad.

His right arm was broken, his legs only just supported his once powerful body and his tree warrior outfit was torn and blood stained.

 **Aaaaaand I'm gonna leave it there! Why? Because I'm mean like that!**

 **As usual, ideas and suggestions are more than welcome!**

 **Review please! It'll make me happy!**

 **See ya! ;D**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey guys, GiLaw here, bringing you another chapter of Confrontation!**

 **First of all, thanks to those who took the time to read and review this fic. You have to idea how much that means to me, I'm always looking for positive feedback and new ways to improve my stories!**

 **Second of all, if you haven't heard already, I do have some more Raven ideas. Fellow Raven fans, you're probably already aware of my Spirit World idea which I will be publishing once I finish this. I also have other ideas (I had this one idea where something happens to Sarjed where she loses all her strength so she has to use wisdom to win in the end) so please let me know if you like this so it'll encourage me to write more!**

 **Anyway, I don't wanna end up writing intros longer than the actual chapter so lets do this!**

 **Enjoy! ;D**

 **Chapter 2**

 **What Happened?**

The woods was filled with a deathly silence. None of the eight warriors knew how to react to the injured Ultimate Warrior nor did he know what to do himself. If the moment wasn't intense, it certainly felt awkward, like some sort of creepy fantasy that couldn't possibly be real . . .

Hanso's mind suddenly snapped as she realized that this was real and her comrade needed help and fast.

"Versad! G- Grab him!"

Much to her relief, her urgency seemed to snap her fellow warriors back to reality as well as Sonos and Beron immediately rushed up to Versad and grabbed an arm each. Versad himself seemed to collapse into their arms, overwhelmed with pain and exhaustion.

"Okay! Um . . . Lenat, can you set up a place for him to sit, please? And, um . . . Water! Yeah yeah yeah, Danil, you're fast, you can get some water!" At this rate, Hanso's mind was too occupied to even think about the fact that she was panicking. "Um . . . Mygar, Kelpa, can you get some cloth or something, quick!"

Her comrades seemed to be two steps ahead of her as Sonos and Beron almost dragged Versad over to a nearby tree where Lenat was doing his best to make it as comfortable as possible. Danil had already grabbed the nearest bowl he could find and was sprinting off like a rocket while Kelpa and Mygar both grabbed some cloth and started tearing it up into different shapes.

"Come on, quickly! No, watch his foot, it looks sprained or something!" Hanso wasted no time in rushing up to them and straightening Versad's leg for him. Versad immediately jerked his leg away, scrunching up his eyes in pain.

"Hanso, it's okay, we got this!" Beron ordered, trying to push Hanso away as kindly as he could.

"No wait, just sit him down easy!" Lenat shouted, grabbing Versad's back in hope of supporting him as well.

"Yeah yeah yeah, like that!" Sonos agreed, the three of them finally resting the Ultimate Warrior down properly.

Beron nodded. "That's it . . . steady . . .!"

As Hanso watched them sit Versad down, she couldn't help but notice the severe pain he was in and the blood that stained most parts of his body and his torn tree outfit. There was a lot of blood, most of it on his forehead, around his arms, one of which looked really awkward and his legs didn't look too supportive either.

"What happened?"

He didn't reply, just gritted his teeth, his eyes still scrunched up, trying not to scream as Sonos and Beron fixed him into a more comfortable position.

"Versad, what happened?"

"Hanso, give him a minute," said Mygar, the only person who seemed to be somewhat calm in this situation, which was natural of her.

"But-"

"He needs to rest for a while," Mygar interrupted. "You can talk to him then, alright?"

Hanso pulled a face. She had to admit, Mygar was right but at the same time she was dying to know what could have happened to Versad to turn him from strong and powerful to . . . this state.

"Come on." Kesem took Hanso's hand, leading her away just as Danil returned with the bowl, water splashing around in it.

"I got the water!"

Hanso went to grab it but Kelpa was quicker. "Right. Put it over the fire for a sec and then we'll clean him up."

"What?" Hanso glanced between the two of them, not sure how to react. "But he needs treatment! Now!"

"If we clean his wounds without heating the water, it's only gonna make it worse!" Kelpa almost seemed to turn her back on a now pretty agitated Hanso and began setting up the sticks to place the bowl of water over the campfire.

"But-"

"Danil, I think we're gonna need some more water," Kesem said quickly, eyeing her friend's uneasy behaviour. Danil nodded at this and sprinted off again, he had enough stamina for a second run to and from the loch.

As he disappeared into the horizon, Hanso tried to get a look at Versad but this wasn't easy as most of the other warriors were literally on top of him. Sonos and Beron were trying to fix him into a more comfortable position, Lenat was shouting suggestions as to what they should do while Mygar was trying to get them to give him some space without much success.

"Hanso . . ." Kesem tugged at her arm again, this time a little firmer than usual. "Come on."

She groaned and let Kesem lead her away again, Hanso glancing behind again but she still couldn't see Versad over her bickering comrades. They were still fussing over him and now Kelpa was approaching the group with the hot water. Very reluctantly, she flopped down onto the ground with her friend, trying to keep her breathing under control. Noticing this, Kesem edged towards her and put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"He's gonna be alright, okay?"

At this stage, all she could do was nod shakily, staring into nothing . . .

"You alright?"

Hanso almost jumped at Danil's voice as Kesem stood up to take the water from him. He was panting hard and looked pretty worried actually.

"Yeah, she's fine," Kesem said, bending down to hand the water to Hanso who took it gratefully but shakily.

Danil lowered his eyebrows at this. "You sure?" He gave Hanso a look. "You look kinda pale . . ."

"I'm fine," she lied, trying to keep her focus on the bowl in her hands.

Danil did not look convinced as Hanso tried to raise the bowl to her lips but just couldn't find the strength to do so.

"You need some help with that?"

Without giving her a chance to reply, he knelt down and took hold of the bottom of the bowl and raised it for her so she could finally lift it up properly and have a drink. That made her feel a little better. Danil nodded in satisfaction and Kesem smiled slightly, stroking her friend's back to help soothe her more.

Hanso suddenly spluttered when she heard Versad's screams- it was loud enough to shake the leaves around them. Glancing up she could see that Kelpa and Mygar were finally tending to his wounds, Kelpa dabbing hot water on him to wash away the blood while Mygar was wrapping cloth around his right arm to form a sling. Hanso had seen her friends in pain before but never in her life would she have imagined she would hear _Versad_ screaming in such intense pain.

Whatever had happened to him, it was definitely serious.

And she was determined to find out . . .

* * *

The sun was slowly making its descend down, it's rays staining the clouds pink and the sky a golden orange.

Most of the warriors had headed out forging and gathering resources for night, apart from Hanso who decided to stay behind and Danil who had returned his usual spot, the darker part of the woods.

Versad seemed to have dozed off but he was obviously having trouble staying asleep as every now and again he would wince in pain or try to shift himself into a more comfortable position, only aggravating the pain he was in even more.

Hanso frowned a little and turned to the task she was doing: cooking dinner for her fellows. It wasn't anything spectacular, just typical vegetable broth but for some reason she wanted to make it as tasty as possible. She glanced up at Versad again. He was breathing heavily and let out a weak cough, still looking pretty uncomfortable. Hanso tightened her lips at this as she tipped the vegetable broth into a bowl, making sure to leave enough for her comrades before picking up a nearby spoon.

Taking a deep breath, broth in one hand, spoon in the other, she stood up bravely and finally approached Versad for the first time since he had appeared in warrior camp. He didn't notice her, he was too busy trying to settle to sleep. Hanso had to clear her throat loudly to get his attention.

His eyes flickered open, his body jerking a little, his head whipping up to see what it was. When be realised it was only Hanso, he exhaled a large sigh of relief and tried to relax but that wasn't easy since his body was still stinging terribly.

As Hanso knelt down beside him, he suddenly noticed the bowl of steaming liquid in her hand and gave her a somewhat nervous look.

"What is that?"

"It's just vegetable broth. I just made it . . . in case you were hungry . . ."

"Oh." He let out another huge sigh and tried to sit up but Hanso pushed him down as gently as she could.

"Take it easy."

Versad winced but found himself relaxing at last. Hanso nodded and scooped up a spoonful of broth. Again, Versad took note of her actions, his eyes widening a little. "Hanso, I can-"

"No you can't," she interrupted a little sternly. "Lie down and relax, will ya?"

Versad cocked his head, taken aback by her snappy tone. "No seriously, you don't have to-"

"Versad trust me, you'll thank me for it." Hanso gave Versad her own little look, one that was enough to show that she meant business as she raised the spoon towards him.

Versad groaned, knowing there was no point arguing with her. "Fine. But the others are gonna hear nothing about this, okay?"

"Alright," Hanso muttered, lifting the spoon towards his lips. Versad sighed a little but opened his mouth anyway for her to tip the broth in. She nodded in approval and prepared another spoonful for him as he closed his mouth and swallowed it down, raising his eyebrows as he did so.

"That's good broth."

"Thanks," she murmured quietly, raising the spoon towards him again. He allowed her to feed him another spoonful, settling down that little bit more. In fact he looked pretty relaxed now.

Hanso smiled slightly, feeling a little more relaxed herself. As she fed him a third dose of vegetable broth, she eyed his sling and cut on his forehead. She had to admit he did look better (Kelpa and Mygar had done a good job cleaning him up) but nevertheless it still begged the one question that had been bugging her for ages now.

"What happened to you?"

Almost immediately she sensed him stiffen, his face dropping and it unsettled her nerves, knowing she was in for an unpleasant story. This wasn't going to be pretty.

"Should've known you were gonna ask me that eventually," he muttered, groaning again.

Hanso didn't reply, just stared at him with obvious concern as he rubbed one side of his face with his good hand.

"You're not gonna leave me alone till you find out, are you?"

"Uh-uh."

Versad scrunched up his eyes, thrusting his head back. "I can't even really remember what happened, it was so . . . I don't know what, it was just crazy!"

"Just explain it as best as you can," Hanso said softly, fixing herself into a cross-legged position, really eager to hear his story now.

He let out yet another sigh but began anyway. "Okay so it's been a few days since the Last Stand. Raven told me to let my heart be my guide and all that and left me to my own devices . . . I've been wandering around and I hear some strange noises round the corner so I decide to check it out. Next thing Nevar and his demons appear and start attacking me and I freak out and I try to fight them back but they all just started blasting at me . . ."

"But where was Raven?" Hanso asked, shocked.

He shook his head quickly, his face crumpling a little. "I don't know, I think Nevar set a trap for him or something!" At this point, he was shaking really bad and his voice was cracking, the thought of the incident obviously upsetting him. "And . . . I knew I had to run so I made a run for it but then Nevar shot at me and I slipped and I hurt my arm- It wasn't even that bad a fall!"

"Okay sh-sh-shh!" Hanso quickly climbed to her knees, knocking the bowl from her legs and spilling vegetable broth everywhere but she didn't care. She tried to take hold of his arm or shoulder in some hope of comforting him but it was to no avail. "It's alright, okay?"

"No Hanso, you should've seen it!" he cried, his breath rate rising. "It was scary, I mean much scarier than the challenges we've gone through; that was real back there, I mean if I didn't have that Staff of Power-"

Versad suddenly seemed to just freeze right there on the spot as it suddenly hit him. Hanso had to dodge to avoid his hand which whipped up to slap his face.

"Shoot!"

"What's wrong?"

"I left behind the Staff of Power!" He tried to stand up but Hanso saw this coming and grabbed his shoulders, pushing against him, a little firmer this time.

"Whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa, take it easy!" She tried to get him to sit back down but he was fighting to stay up despite the pain he was in.

"I gotta get that Staff of Power!"

"Versad, sit down!"

"No Hanso, if I don't get the Staff of Power back, Nevar's gonna get it and then he's gonna use it against us!"

"Versad, listen to me!"

The harshness in her order was enough to make Versad snap out of it and allow her to help him back down. She nodded in approval, letting out a soft little sigh of relief."That's better . . . "

He barely responded, just glanced away from her and flopped his head down hiding his eyes with his good hand. "I screwed us up . . ."

"You didn't screw us up, Versad," Hanso murmured, stroking his arm. That was probably one of the first few positive things, she had said since she returned back to camp. "All you need to do is tell me where you left the staff and I can go and get it for you and it'll be alright."

He glanced up at her, withdrawing his hand a little. "No, it's not gonna be alright."

"Don't worry about it, I can get it," she said, trying to muster an encouraging smile.

"Hanso, it's not that simple!"

"Just calm down . . . You can tell me where it is and I'll get it for you. Is it near the Last Stand, is it near the Deep Loch . . .?"

"Hanso seriously, you're not gonna be able to get it!"

Her smile dropped as she found herself getting a little frustrated. "Why not?"

"I left the Staff of Power in the Blasted Mountain."

 **Aaaaaand I'm gonna leave it at that! Gotta love those cliffeys! No pun intended :P**

 **Okay, so before any of you guys ask, I'm just gonna say it:**

 **No, I do not ship Versad and Hanso.**

 **I know if this was another fic with other characters, this would be considered shipping but it's important to note that these kids are like twelve. I'm sure they're probably really close in real life but in this, they're just very tight friends.**

 **Anyway, I hope you liked it. Lol, in my other fics it's usually the guy comforting the girl and not the other way around!**

 **(Probably cause Hanso's the one in red here, lol :P)**

 **God dammit, I just said I wouldn't go into shipper mode! X'D**

 **Anyway, I'll see ya! ;)**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey guys!**

 **So yeah, I hope you're liking this story! I'm enjoying developing it anyway!**

 **Speaking of Raven, I've got an announcement to make!**

 **Sometime around February, I'm gonna be taking part in a YouTube Minecraft series which is a recreation of this awesome gameshow! Look out for warrior Worgal in Season 3! If I'm good enough, I might even be in Season 4!**

 **Though that probably won't be likely because I'm as good at ladder parkour as Hanso was in the Blasted Mountain!**

 **But not for long because I'm about to update this story! Enjoy! ;D**

 **Chapter 3**

 **You're Not Going**

Hanso froze there for a moment, not sure how to react and for a brief second, she felt colder than the time she had swam in the Deep Loch.

The Staff of Power in the Blasted Mountain?

"How did you even-" She paused, deciding not to ask any farther questions- she could tell that Versad was already upset enough and questioning him farther was not going to help. "Never mind."

Versad was rubbing his face with his good hand, covering his eyes, his breath and body shaking. Hanso couldn't see his face now but by the sound of him and those little jerks of the body every now and again, she could almost swear . . .

"Are you crying?"

He didn't respond just buried his head into his knees, shaking harder. Hanso decided to take that as a yes and tried to somehow push him back up against the tree without hurting him.

"Hey."

She tried to take his shoulder but he jerked away, sitting back up to rub his face again and Hanso couldn't help how red his eyes were and how tear stained his face was. Letting out a massive sigh, he finally glanced at her and murmured "What?"

"I can get it, I can." She tried to muster a fake smile again but she wasn't convincing anyone.

"Yeah Hanso, you can't go in the Blasted Mountain without failing any of the challenges, we all know you can't!"

"Well maybe I'll be third time lucky," said Hanso, suddenly perking up. "Yeah, since the quest is over, they're no longer challenges. No more races, I won't have to get any rings-"

"Yeah but what about the Chasm?" Versad interrupted. "What's gonna happen if you fall in? Raven's not gonna be there to save you. And if you make that, what about the end? You can't build a stone soldier to save your life."

"But it's not a race!"

"Well those demons aren't gonna sit around forever! Besides, Nevar's probably already in there, trying to receive the Staff of Power already! Maybe it's too late! Hanso, it's pointless!"

Versad glared at Hanso who remained neutral. It seemed that each angry word from him was only making her more and more determined to go in there.

"I'm going in."

"No you're not."

"I'm going!"

"I won't let you!"

"You're not my boss, Versad," she replied sternly, getting to her feet.

Versad puckered his lips in annoyance. "Since when did you become an Arnor?"

Hanso just ignored him and headed over to warrior camp to sort out some things, grabbing a leather satchel to gather some resources. She had a feeling she was going to need them.

As she began packing up, she heard crunching ahead of her and looked up to see Danil stepping out of his dark spot again.

"Hi," she said pleasantly.

There was a funny look on his face, one of somewhat suspicion.

"Did you say you were going in the Blasted Mountain?"

"No!" Hanso replied a little too quickly. "Why would I? I suck at those challenges, remember?"

Danil lowered his eyebrows but nodded anyway. "Right. Cause if you were . . . I'd understand why, what with you wanting to try and complete everything so you could- yeah . . ." he quickly trailed off. His nod suddenly became shaky and he quickly shuffled back into his area, his face crumpling as he did so.

Hanso exhaled a sigh of relief. Maybe it would be a good idea to wait until nightfall to head off, while all her comrades were asleep.

She head thumping on the trees in that one area and bit her lip, feeling a little guilty. And she thought she was emotional when she had failed to become Ultimate Champion.

She glanced behind her to face him. He seemed to have fallen asleep.

Okay. She could pack up in peace.

"Hi Hanso!"

She whipped up only to see Kesem and the rest of her comrades returning from their hunt. Sonos and Lenat were carrying firewood between them, Mygar and Kelpa had gathered some berries and Beron had come back with some leather and cloth to form bandages.

Kesem noticed the satchel in Hanso's hands and her smile dropped a little. "What are you doing?"

"Oh! Nothing much!" Hanso lied, climbing to her feet. "Just seeing if there was anything useful in here to help make Versad better."

"How's he doing?" Beron asked, glancing at him in concern.

"Oh he's just asleep, he should be alright," Hanso said, trying to act as casual as she could. Noticing the way her comrades were looking at her, she quickly decided to divert their attention. "I made vegetable broth!" she said, pointing.

"Great, I'm starving!" Sonos grinned, immediately turning to grab a bowl.

"You're always starving!" Lenat teased, giving him a poke as the warriors all went to get themselves a good serving, making Hanso smile a little. That was a good recovery.

Soon they all had a nice big bowl each and they all sat down and began to tuck in, the atmosphere seemed to grow more easygoing and lighthearted, at least for the moment. Hanso found herself sitting amongst her fellow female warriors, all enjoying the warm taste from the broth. As she ate, she tried not to hide her worries about heading into the Blasted Mountain alone. If she didn't make it . . .

No, she could do it. She could learn from her mistakes. It would be a good idea to enjoy the night with her friends.

"Feeling better?" Kesem asked, sipping a spoonful of broth.

"Yeah, I guess," Hanso smiled. "It's nice to be back here with you lot."

"Nice to have you back," Mygar added pleasantly.

"Nice that you beat most of the boys!" Kesem added, nudging her with her elbow and the girls all laughed playfully.

"Alright guys, cheers for Hanso for doing it for the ladies!" Kelpa grinned.

The four girls all raised their bowls and cheered, laughing playfully and Hanso noticed that this was probably the first time since her return she had ever laughed. It felt good to smile and have fun again, and it gave her so much more hope for the time when she would have to-

"Tell Hanso she's not to go to the Blasted Mountain to try and get that Staff of Power!"

Versad's holler caused everyone to stop eating and stare at him like he had gone mad. He ignored them and kept his gaze on Hanso who had frozen there, her eyes widened. All her comrade's eyes turned to face her and she could feel her face burning as hot and as red as her sun outfit. She heard a crunching behind her and winced, scrunching up her eyes. She didn't have to turn around to know that even Danil had raced out of the woods and was now standing over her looking shocked.

"So you were going to the Blasted Mountain!"

Kesem stood up straight, her bowl of broth slipping from her legs and spilling to the ground. "You're joking!"

Hanso glanced around her but all she could see were eyes staring at her and suddenly the relaxing atmosphere was just awkward. She turned at Versad who was just sitting there, trying not to smirk. She opened her mouth to protest but knew all too well that she had just been busted. Her shock shifted into one of annoyance and with her remaining voice, just managed to mutter:

"I hate you."

 **And I'm gonna leave it at that! Because I'm mean like that!**

 **Also if you want more information on Raven Minecraft, check out Billybo10000 on YouTube! It should have everything you need to know!**

 **See ya! ;D**


	4. Chapter 4

**Well this is a surprise!**

 **I was not planning to update any of my fanfics lately since I wanted to focus on other stuff like school, writing outside of FanFiction and my gaming channel. You're probably aware that I'm competing in a Minecraft recreation of Raven. And yeah, some things happened in the show that . . . kinda destroyed my self confidence a bit.**

 **And then I got messaged by Hanso. That's right, I got a PM from _THE_ _HANSO_ complimenting this story and encouraging me to keep writing! **

**I don't think I've had this big a freak out since "I love you too much to lose you." I am very passionate about my writing and then to have my favourite Raven warrior of all time read this and praise me about it . . . well in the last words of Hanso herself: "It's just so amazing and I'm just so happy." I just can't believe it, I cried tears of joy at the response and it's such a confidence boost.**

 **Anyway that's enough about me. ON WITH THE STORY! This is for you, Hanso, I certainly hope you enjoy ;)**

 **Chapter 4**

 **A New Quest Begins**

The air was silent apart from the rustling sound coming from Hanso's satchel as she continued to pack up her things, trying to ignore the concerned, slightly emotional warriors behind her. She spluttered, and swallowed as hard as she could but that large lump in the back of her throat was not going away.

Why did her eyes feel so watery?

She wiped them quickly and braved a glance behind her. Most of the warriors were just sitting motionless around the fireplace, none of them speaking a word to each other, though Kesem was sobbing silently in Kelpa's arms with Mygar stroking her back. Seeing her friend so upset . . . Hanso flicked back around and tried to concentrating on what she needed.

Sticks and wood to start a fire . . . check. Cloth for bandages . . . yeah they were in there. And she needed a slingshot just in case Nevar's demons attacked her on her journey. Surely a few stones could do as much damage as those large rocks they had used to fight a whole army of demons . . . though only Danil had actually been successful with them. Everyone else kinda had to be rescued by Raven.

He was standing over her now, arms folded, watching as she kept her focus on packing her satchel. Hanso could sense his eyes over her, gazing on with disapproval and tried not to look up. Um, what did she need . . .? Food, definitely. Uhh . . . Apples. She turned around to face the pile that had been there when she had first arrived back to warrior camp. They looked so fresh so welcoming . . .

Hanso quickly grabbed a handful of them and stuffed them in her satchel, the lump in her throat growing a little. Funny, how she had been in camp for less than half a day and now she had to leave her comrades again.

The satchel wouldn't close now. The bag seemed to be overflowing with cloth and stones and apples and sticks . . . Hanso felt her throat tighten again as she yanked on the lid trying to force it shut. Why wouldn't it just shut?

Danil noticed this and bent down to help. "Here, let me give you a hand."

"Thanks." Hanso straightened up and allowed Danil to try and shut the satchel for her. He managed to do so successfully, tying it extra tight so none of the contents would spill.

"There ya go."

"Thank," Hanso murmured again, taking hold of it and putting it over her shoulder. As she stood up, she felt the weight of her drag her down and stumbled a little, frowning slightly. This shouldn't be that heavy, the stuff she was carrying was only light. It was almost as if she was carrying a different sort of weight altogether . . .

"You know you don't have to go alone," said Danil.

Hanso raised her eyebrows. "Huh?"

"I'll come with you," he said, stepping forwards.

She froze slightly. She had a feeling that at least one of her comrades was going to say that and yet she still wasn't prepared to deny their offer.

"Danil, I . . ." Hanso pulled a face. How was she going to say this kindly to him?

"Look I know you wanna take on the Blasted Mountain and stuff but this is serious." Danil bent his head, lowering his eyebrows. "You may not come out of this alive, you know that?"

"Yeah, I know but . . ." Hanso sighed again, trying not to let her face crumble. "It's just . . . Someone has to retrieve that Staff of Power. And . . ." She sighed again, rubbing her forehead in guilt. "I just want to prove myself . . . If I lead you all in and don't make it . . ."

She sensed Danil's face drop and glanced down at her feet, clutching onto her satchel. "It's sort of a sacrifice, for all you guys."

Danil just stood there, shoulders dropped, eyes also avoiding contact. "Yeah, I guess so."

Hanso felt her eyes water again and wiped them again. "Y- You understand that, right?"

"Yeah I do." As snappy as his tone was, it still cracked on him nonetheless.

Again, the air was filled with that deathly silence. The sun was still descending, its bright rays hiding behind the mountain peak that lay ahead, darkening the sky a dull bright orange color.

Hanso let out one final sigh. "I should probably get going . . . Nevar isn't gonna wait for that Staff of Power."

"Kay." Danil nodded at this, turning his shoulder slightly on her. "Good luck then."

Hanso bit her lip and gulped slightly as she backed away slowly, glancing between her comrades.

"Bye guys."

No one responded. None of them even made eye contact with her, nor did they make any sort of movement to wish her luck. She could feel some of them flicking glances at her but no longer than a few seconds. The only sound coming from at least one of them, was the snuffling coming from Kesem as she tried to control her tears. Even she couldn't bear to say goodbye to her best friend. It was like she was already gone . . .

Biting her lip harder, Hanso reluctantly turned her back and walked a few steps before her eyes fell on Versad. He was still sitting by the tree, glancing at his feet. He didn't look amused now. In fact he looked rather guilty.

"Hey."

Versad looked up, surprised to see her talking to him. "Oh . . . hi."

"I . . ." Again, Hanso couldn't help but turn away from him. "I just wanted to say, I appreciate you for being concerned about me."

Versad just pulled a face. "I think everyone is to be honest. You're taking a big risk, you know that?"

"Yeah I know," Hanso murmured quietly, and she managed to look at him once more, trying to forget about the journey that lay ahead. "Take care of yourself, will ya?"

"Right back at you."

Hanso exhaled a little as if to laugh but her face didn't smile nor show any sign of happiness. Instead it remained somewhat nervous as she turned to face the long forestry path ahead, overshadowed by that large mountain peak.

This was it.

Hanso took a deep breath and began to march through the woods, across the path. Her satchel bumped against her legs, dropping down on her shoulder which was already beginning to ache with the weight. Scrunching up her eyes, she took hold of the strap and raised it slightly to ease the pain.

This was going to be a long journey.

Already the sky was beginning to feel darker as she found the many trees hovering over her blocking out the remaining light from the sun and just making the path darker and darker. Flicking a glance behind her, she could no longer see her comrades or any sign of warrior camp- the trees were beginning to interfere.

Hanso cleared her throat and gazed up at the mountain, trying to keep her eyes fixed on it while also trying not to bump into the trunks around her. There were so many of them . . . it felt like there were more on the way to her destination than there were back to warrior camp.

Okay, the satchel was really beginning to hurt her shoulder now. Hanso scrunched up her face and, still walking, raised it and took a moment to change it around, placing it onto her other shoulder. That felt a little better.

 _On with the quest._

Saying that in her head almost seemed to cheer her up a little. The blackness suddenly reminded her of Raven and Hanso couldn't help but smile a little as she thought back to the times when she and her fellow warriors followed in Raven's footsteps, eager to see their next challenge. That was back when the quest was exciting and the challenges were good sport . . .

 _ **SNAP!**_

Hanso stiffened, eyes widened. What was that?

She flickered around her, but all she could see was just trees everywhere and the trees were leading into darkness and infinity . . .

Now a rustling sound.

The leaves above her were beginning to shake, some of them slipping from their branches and fluttering to the ground like raindrops among the crispy ones that Hanso was already standing on. Without a moment's hesitation, she heaved her satchel off her shoulders and knelt down to open it and search frantically for her slingshot. It was stuck right at the bottom, underneath the heavy cloth and large apples.

The rustling sounds in the trees seemed to be getting close, louder and louder and Hanso tried not to panic as she forced her hand down past her cloth and finally fished out her slingshot and a stone. Standing up, she fumbled to get it in and saw a shadow flash over her in the trees.

"Who is that?"

She pulled back the stone in her slingshot and aimed it at any form of movement, or at least where she had seen the shadow. Whatever it was, it was definitely a moving target that was after her. Hanso bent down a little and swiveled her eyes around her surroundings. Hopefully her aim would be as true as it was back when she had to trigger those mines in Target Run . . .

A glimpse of white in the trees suddenly caught her attention and Hanso immediately fired. But this attacker seemed agile and dodged her shot with ease, moving very swiftly through the trees indeed. Though they seemed to have stopped now, examining her on the ground and Hanso suddenly recognized the cloud symbol on their chest.

"Danil!" Of course he would follow her! She should have known he wasn't gonna stay behind just like that!

The person, or warrior didn't respond just stayed perfectly still on the branch they were on. Hanso, slightly upset frowned and stormed over to the tree to get a response.

"Danil, I told you not to-"

"I'm not Danil." It was a female voice.

"Oh." Hanso, lowered her slingshot, not sure whether to feel disappointed or relieved. The female warrior bent her knees and with one graceful leap, jumped down onto the leaves to join her, allowing Hanso to get a good look at her. She was about the same height as her, wearing the same cloud outfit as Danil and Mygar and had light ash brown hair tied into two shoulder length plaits.

"Sorry," Hanso murmured, blushing a little. She really thought that that was Danil who had followed her and it had given her such a fright . . .

"Nah it's okay," the girl replied pleasantly. "I'd freak out too if I thought someone was after me," she added with a giggle.

"Yeah," Hanso agreed, nodding slightly, eyeing the cloud symbol on her chest and deciding to change the topic. "Were you on the quest?"

"Yeah I was," the girl smiled. "I'm Ardhu. Do you know Danil?"

"I was in the final with him. Why were you in his week?"

"Yeah I was. And Lenat, you know him?"

"Yeah I do." Hanso smiled a little and looked back up at the trees. She couldn't help but admire how swiftly this Ardhu warrior had moved back there, she had the climbing skills and agility of a monkey. "You were really good up in those trees. Did Danil and Lenat beat you at the Last Stand?"

"No, I got knocked out first."

Hanso's eyes widened and turned back to Ardhu, her jaw dropped in shock. "What?!"

"Yup." Ardhu tightened her lips but remained smiley. "I did well, won some rings . . . I actually beat Lenat in Spider's Web!" She giggled a little again before sighing. "But I kinda got a bit unlucky in the team challenges and that knocked me down a few lives."

"Whoa." Hanso was too shocked to realize that she was gaping at the cloud warrior. And to think that she had bad luck on that last day! "I- I'm really sorry."

"Nah, it's okay. I've done well on the quest, and I'm working on my strengths and stuff," Ardhu replied. "I've enjoyed the quest."

"Right." Hanso felt herself blushing a little bit more and she glanced down at her feet. Here was this girl who had possibly the worst luck in the whole entire quest and yet she was so happy with her accomplishments . . .

Oh yeah. She had her own quest to continue.

"I-" She looked back at Ardhu who still had that smile on her face and sighed, not wanting to upset her with what was happening at camp. She turned to close her satchel and pick it back up.

"I have to go."

"Okay, bye." As Hanso put her satchel back round her shoulder and began to head off, Ardhu turned to the tree she had been on and began to climb back up. Watching Hanso disappear into the blackness of the woods, she let out a shout.

"Tell Danil and them I said hi!"

Again, Hanso paused. She wanted to return and tell her fellows about this amazing warrior. But she had a job to do. And chances were, she might not live to tell her comrades anything . . .

Her satchel felt heavy again but Hanso took another deep breath and looked back up at the Blasted Mountain. It seemed so far away and yet she felt so close . . . Lifting up her satchel slightly, she began to march once again and muttered under her breath:

"I'll see you soon."

 **Aaaaaaand there you go! Lol, this is probably the longer chapter of this story!**

 **Again, I'm just so amazed that I have the main character herself reading this story so that really motivates me to give it extra attention and feel like something special.**

 **I really hope you enjoyed this, to all my fans and especially to Hanso. Next chapter will be coming soon.**

 **See ya! ;D**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

 **Darkness**

Boy it was getting dark now! The sun's light was slowly fading as it continued to descend down behind the somewhat monstrous mountain peak towering over Hanso who tried to stay firm to hide her nerves. Nonetheless, she stuck her chin up slightly, trying not to bump into the many trees that seemed to be forming bit of a maze for her.

 _'Maybe I should've waited till morning before doing this.'_

No, she couldn't afford the wait. If Nevar had found out the Staff of Power had been abandoned, then surely he would set out to try and beat her to it. This wasn't just a quest, it was a race. Boy, she never thought she would have to race NEVAR to reach a Staff of Power. Hanso couldn't help but smirk slightly at her own thoughts: twice she had seen Nevar standing over that portal shooting at her and her comrades. The thought of him running was . . . surprisingly amusing.

The sky was really dark now. The sun had disappeared completely behind the mountain peak, which Hanso could now barely see with the bush of leaves from the trees around her. Soon it would be too dark to keep travelling.

Hanso sighed but stopped anyway, removing the satchel from her shoulders, feeling pretty relieved to finally take some of the physical weight from them. Now there was the debate whether to start a fire or not. If Nevar really was out there, there was a good chance he would spot the glow from flames and that could spell disaster . . .

Maybe a small one would be okay. Hanso knelt down and opened her satchel, beginning to rummage through all the stuff she had packed. Some of her apples had been crushed and bruised from the compressed weight and were turning brown already. Pulling a face, Hanso took them out and threw them away. Some of them smashed against the trees while others rustled the leaves as they bounced and rolled away.

 _'Well bringing those was a bad idea,'_ Hanso thought to herself as she finally dug out the firewood she had packed. Most of it had remained in tact though little prickly sticks had been scattered at the bottom of her bag, a few of them even sticking through the bandages she had packed and dirtying them.

Wait . . . Hanso lowered her eyebrows slightly.

Bandages? Why had she brought bandages if she hadn't brought water to clean off the wounds in the first place?

 _'Oops. Well these are pretty useless now.'_

Hanso pulled another face and dumped the bandages beside her to clear up space in her satchel before continuing to rummage through her things. There was her slingshot and stones- thank goodness she hadn't forgotten those.

As the sky darkened, Hanso laid her satchel beside her and sat herself against a tree, looking up at the stars. Funny, how she didn't feel tired. In fact, she didn't know what she was really feeling in general. It was actually kind of confusing to be honest with herself.

The moon was out now, lightening the sky, but only slightly because dark clouds were beginning to show up, fading out the moon's light and float above Hanso, the trees and the mountain ahead.

 _'Some water and some sunlight would be nice.'_ Hanso chuckled a little at her own joke but swallowed slightly. She had only just realised now how thirsty she felt and was beginning to regret now bringing water. Swallowing hard to try and moisten her dry throat, she fished out one of the few apples that had survived the journey and took a bite to try and get some of the juice from it. That felt a little better.

As she crunched on her apple, Hanso relaxed against the tree, thinking back to her comrades. She really hoped they were okay, considering they had barely said a word to her before she had left. Kesem had been so upset . . . to think about her best friend crying . . . Hanso felt her throat dry up again and quickly took another bite out of her apple to try and ignore her own feelings.

At least Danil hadn't followed her along the way. When she had met that Ardhu warrior, she had really thought it was him and it had frightened her so much . . . Just, for his safety and all that . . .

Speaking of safety, what about poor Versad? Hanso felt her body shiver as she thought back to that image of him, flopped against that tree, his arm in that sling, his foot laying at an awkward ankle, his body all cut and bruised with his clothes all torn. As she shuddered, Hanso glanced back at what she could see of the Blasted Mountain and began to think a little more.

 _'I'm not just doing this for myself. I have to retrieve that Staff of Power, overcome the obstacles ahead . . . I have to avenge one of my closest mates. Wow . . . that's a lot of weight on my shoulders. I've been through that Blasted Mountain twice and not once have I been able to win a challenge? That's kind of scary. I mean the other warriors, they've all won like one or two-'_

Hanso straightened, her eyes widened as she realised. Bringing her hands to her face, the apple fell to her side as she let out a groan of frustration.

 _'I should've talked to the others and asked for advice on how to get through those challenges!'_ It seemed so obvious now, and so frustrating! If she had just taken that small bit of time to ask each of the warriors for little tricks on how to get through each obstacle! Beron on the Chasm, Versad or Sonos about the Lava Pit, maybe get Lenat to teach her how to build a stone soldier . . .

 ** _"RRRRRRR-!"_**

' _Okay."_ Hanso took a deep breath, in an attempt to compose herself. _"Calm down, Hanso. That was just a little mistake, everyone does that. You already know how to get through that boulder tunnel- all you did was drop a ring. You don't need any rings here and you're not against anyone. You've got time to do this . . .'_

She looked up only to notice that the clouds seemed to have travelled a bit, slowly floating over her, the trees and slowly approaching the Blasted Mountain (at least she thought it was the Blasted Mountain), looking like black smoke coming out. Though the clouds were moving over to her right . . . or was it more like a fog?

As she watched, it was there that Hanso noticed that the air seemed a little more . . . still than usual. There was no night breeze, no chill in the air and the trees weren't rustling as much as she would've liked. The night seemed to be growing darker and darker, almost pitch black. Straightening even more, shifting her feet, Hanso squinted her eyes, trying to see through the dark shadows and slowly reached out for her slingshot.

Something was following her. Hanso could feel that apple in her stomach churning, turning to mush like the ones she had thrown against the trees as she slid her second hand down her satchel in search of some stones. She could hear the rustle of the leaves slowly approaching her and bit her lip, her groping hand in her satchel getting a little more frantic.

She could see it in front of her, that dark shadowy shape approaching her. It was so black, blacker than the night itself. Finally, her hand clasped a stone and she thrust it out of the satchel, trying to insert it into the slingshot but her hand wouldn't stop shaking, and the stone wanted to slip through her trembling fingers. Frantically feeling for the rubber strap, she finally seemed to get a grip of it and, eyeing that approaching shadow, withdrew the slingshot and fired.

The stone struck the shadow with ease and a white flash almost blinded Hanso with its brightness, but it wasn't enough to stop her from catching a glimpse of Nevar and the rest of his demon army. As the light from the demon she had struck faded into nothing, her eyes caught sight of Nevar raising his evil Staff of Power and it was enough to tell her one thing:

 _'RUN!'_

Without a moment's hesitation, Hanso scrambled to her feet, kicking behind leaves and her own satchel, the remaining stones falling to the ground. Nevar jerked, taken aback by the sudden movement, but growled angrily as he raised his staff and fired at Hanso, just striking behind her, making her stumble. Crashing into a tree, she spun around only to hear Nevar growling again, the crunching sound of the leaves growing louder in a marching rhythm. Next thing a bolt of lightning shot at her and Hanso quickly withdrew behind the tree, the lightning hitting the bark and setting it alight.

Hanso took off again, but the black forest was hard to navigate through, it was so dark and there were trees everywhere. The panic and chaos was making her dizzy and she could feel her throat drying up again as she wheezed for breath. Another bolt of lightning struck at her but missed again, striking a tree just in front of her, making her gasp out of the shock and she tried to run faster but it seemed that as she tried to take a step, all she could to was run into the trees around her.

As she sprinted for her life, Hanso sensed another bolt of lightning strike near her and this time, it struck her feet, enough to make her yelp and stumble much more violently but she had been so frantic that she had somehow made it out of the trees and as she struggled to regain her footing, she suddenly landed awkwardly on her right foot which bent under her weight. A sharp pain stung her ankle but before Hanso could think about it, she had fallen over completely and was tumbling, tumbling down a slope that seemed to lead into nothing but more darkness and now everything was spinning and it was times like this were Hanso couldn't control her body or her mind. She was falling and panicking and her ankle was stinging terribly and she had no idea where Nevar and his demons were.

As she helplessly flipped down the slope, Hanso finally seemed to crash into a giant rock face and collapsed on the ground, too exhausted and too dizzy to stand up. Lying down on the ground, panting heavily she stared at the night sky, waiting for her head to stop spinning and the stars to form properly.

A growl in the air immediately reminded her that there was no time to recover and Hanso quickly sat up to climb to hee feet, just as another blast of lightning struck behind her, blowing up some of the rock from the cliff. Atop the slope she had just fallen down, Nevar and his vile henchmen were standing menacingly and Nevar fired again at Hanso who ignored the pain in her ankle and stood up, suddenly noticing the cave in front of her. Not taking a moment to think about it, Hanso jumped in, just as Nevar struck just above the entrance. Letting out a yelp, Hanso dived for safety, clutching her head for dear life as large rocks and boulders toppled down in front of her.

She scrambled back, trying to get as far away aspossible, the rocks blocking off the entrance between her and her enemy. Dust began to fly inside and Hanso scrunched up her eyes, coughing for breath.

Good thing Nevar's aim wasn't true. That blast had just cut him off and saved her life.

No, wait. Hanso paused, sitting up a little.

Nevar was laughing. She could hear him.

Why was he laughing?

Hanso lowered her eyebrows and got to her knees, taking a moment to observe her surroundings. Once again, it was dark, almost pitch black, but she couldn't help but feel that there was something familiar about this cave. If that's what you could call it. It didn't feel like a cave, now that she thought about it. It felt more like a tunnel, a path. What was it about this place that felt so familiar . . .?

She heard Nevar's horrible raspy laughter again and the realisation suddenly hit her harder than the rocky ground and walls. She felt her surroundings rumble and it was at that point, she knew.

That wasn't a cave she had jumped into.

That was the Blasted Mountain.

Hanso felt her surroundings rumble and heard Nevar's growls of laughter. Although she was already on her knees, she still drooped a little.

For some reason, she hadn't been as ready as she would've liked.


End file.
